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Back to the 'future' libraryJul 10, 2011 (Standard-Examiner - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- It's been a long time since Jennifer Jones visited her local library. "I used to go to the library all the time, to get CDs of audiobooks," said the Roy woman. "I haven't done it in quite a while because it's so much more convenient to download online." But Jones may be returning to the library -- soon. The familiar stacks of books, and even audio CDs, are still there, but libraries are adapting to offer services that tech-savvy patrons want. "For a long time, libraries haven't offered much in that way," said Elizabeth Schow, circulation librarian at the Brigham City Carnegie Library. "There had been a lot of uncertainty about where e-books were going (as) it concerned libraries. ... That's starting to be worked out now." In Utah, the state library system makes e-books, eAudiobooks and a limited number of videos available through contracts with OverDrive and NetLibrary. Those books are downloaded by patrons through their local library's website. Randy Mueller, reference services manager with the Weber County Library, says his library lends about 169,000 physical items each month, compared to about 2,000 e-books and audiobooks. It's a small percentage of the total, but trending up. "Our e-media checkouts in the last year tripled," he said, noting that a lot of people got e-book readers over the holidays. "It's one of those things that's going to do nothing but grow." OverDrive offers both e-books and audiobooks, according to Jerry Meyer, assistant director of the Davis County Library. NetLibrary, which is undergoing changes in the next few weeks and will get a new name and interface, provides only audiobooks. There are currently about 1,100 titles available in e-book format, and about 3,700 eAudiobooks, through those two sources, said Mueller. Readers will find everything from new releases, such as "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" by Yossef Bodansky and Mitch Albom's "Have a Little Faith: A True Story," to the popular series "The Songs of the Seraphim" by Anne Rice and Paul Michael. There are also language-learning programs and children's books, including "The Magician's Elephant" and "Because of Winn-Dixie," both by Kate DiCamillo. "Our library also buys additional titles," said Schow, putting the extra number of e-books available through the Brigham City library at just under 500, with 30 more eAudiobook titles each month. Audiobooks Audiobook downloads are a good deal for Jones, who has about 500. "CDs are a lot more expensive. It typically costs $50 to $80 per book, depending on how many CDs it takes or how popular the author is," she said. That compares to $15 to $30 for an MP3 file. Her concern is download time. "E-book files are fairly small, and can download in a few minutes," she said. "Some audiobook files can take a couple of hours." The Weber County Library has the answer for that. A new kiosk has been installed in each branch just for downloading eAudiobooks. It's a station with a dedicated computer, cables for various devices, and a high-speed connection. "It took about eight minutes," said Amanda Rodie, assistant adult specialist with Weber County Library, of her last download using the library's equipment. "Others take five to 10 minutes, depending on the size of book and device you're using." Librarians can walk folks through the process of connecting, browsing available titles, and checking out eAudiobooks, which is good news for Sharon McKinlay. McKinlay started borrowing audiobooks from libraries when they were available on cassette tape, and then moved to CDs. When her daughter told her she could listen on an iPod, she tried it. "The iPod is so small and convenient," she said. "I can put that thing in my pocket and go about my business." But it's not as convenient as it could be -- at least not for her. McKinlay's daughter takes care of the downloads. "My daughter lives in Nephi," she said. "The last one, I listened to it twice because I hadn't gotten down there to get a new one." E-books New eAudiobook users aren't the only ones with questions. "We get a lot of calls, or people walk in and say, 'My son got me this Nook for Christmas. How do I download books?' " said Mueller. Librarians are willing to help, and there are instructions online. Ryan Christensen asked for, and received, an e-book reading device for Christmas. "When I was younger ... I thought it was great to have big stacks of books to go back and read," he said. "Now it's just kind of inconvenient -- they just pile up." He's not having problems using his new e-reader -- he keeps 30 to 40 books loaded on it at time. The downside for him is cost. "Before I got it, I assumed ... once you have it, then the cost of books would be about the same," said the Layton man. "I'm noticing though, that I used to go and get 10 paperback books for less than $30, and now sometimes I can only get three e-books for more than $30." He was excited to find out that libraries loan e-books, but he's going to have to wait a little while. Over-Drive is compatible with Nook, Sony's reader and other devices, but not his Kindle. Librarians say a deal is expected to make Kindles compatible by the end of the year. Download lowdown Patrons can borrow electronic media without leaving home, by accessing library websites. "There's no reason to come to the library for this," said Meyer, of Davis. "In the case of our library web page, there's a link on the right-hand side to OverDrive." Weber's access is through "eBooks" and "eAudiobooks" links on the lefthand side of the website. Other libraries ask patrons to click on a link to the Utah State Library system's online library, Pioneer. The bar code number on the back of your library card is needed to access and download OverDrive and NetLibrary. Because of the way sites are set up, some may also require a library access code, which patrons get from librarians. "Then, in the case of audiobooks, they have some software to download," said Meyer. E-circulation Even though a book is electronic, checkouts are limited. "Like a library book that you only have so many of on a shelf, there are only so many downloads available at a time," said Cheryl Potter, assistant manager at the Weber County Library's Pleasant Valley branch. "That's how the publisher still makes money on it." Meyer says the OverDrive collection is heavily used -- so much so that it can be difficult to find a book that's not already checked out to someone else. "You have to place holds unless it's a really obscure thing," he said. If you place a hold on an e-book, you'll get an e-mail when it's available. You have three days to respond, or it will pass to the next person. Most e-Media can be checked out for two or three weeks, depending on the source. There are no overdue fines on downloads. "At the end of that period, it's automatically deactivated on the e-reader, MP3 or whatever you're using," said Meyer. To see more of the Standard-Examiner, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.standard.net. Copyright (c) 2011, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |